12% of physicians report non-medical GLP-1 use in sport

Twelve per cent of sports medicine physicians surveyed say they're aware of athletes using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs without any medical need for them.

That figure, drawn from a new Loughborough University-led study published this year, is now driving calls for closer monitoring of how drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro are being used in elite competition.

Researchers surveyed 114 sports medicine physicians across 38 countries, covering 93 different sports, to gauge professional opinion on GLP-1 use among athletes.

The physicians most often pointed to two motivations: shedding weight quickly to meet weight-class limits and managing weight during recovery from injury. Beyond those practical uses, the study found what researchers describe as "moderate concern" over both potential performance benefits and risks to athlete health.

The core medical concern centres on how GLP-1 drugs work: by suppressing appetite, they can reduce energy intake to a degree that triggers metabolic and hormonal problems in people who don't need the medication for weight loss.

For athletes already managing high training loads, physicians flagged that risk as a distinct threat to long-term health rather than a simple side effect.

Awareness of GLP-1 drug use was found among weight-sensitive sports like cycling; aesthetic sports like artistic swimming; physique sports such as bodybuilding; and endurance sports, including swimming.

The distribution of the problem across such disparate sports shows that the issue is not specific to one kind of sport but rather involves sports with completely different requirements for physical performance and weight concerns.

Prohibition of GLP-1 drugs in sport had 44% support among survey respondents, with another 38% undecided. In the view of Dr Daniel Read, the lead researcher at the university where the survey took place, there are no grounds for a ban based on existing information.

"We should take a balanced evidence-based approach to GLP-1 drugs in sport," he says, and urges the focus to be on educating athletes, coaches and support staff and conducting further research on the issue.